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Orthopedic specialist recommendation needed

2K views 25 replies 20 participants last post by  jake7 
#1 ·
I need to have a bum knee examined by an Orthopedic specialist. I don't have a doctor so I am at a loss of where to begin choosing a specialist. If there is a great doctor/surgeon in the Evergreen area he or she would be my first choice. Otherwise I am open to anyone in Denver, Golden, or Boulder. Does anyone have a recommendation?

Thanks,

jason
 
#5 ·
blame it on the singlespeed

jasonb said:
I need to have a bum knee examined by an Orthopedic specialist.
recent wreck or long-term cumulative damage?

good luck w/ that... i was hoping to have an ortho look at my hand but kaiser said earliest app't was october (gotta love the HMO), so i'm off to the "family doctor" this afternoon. :rolleyes:
 
#6 ·
gotdirt said:
recent wreck or long-term cumulative damage?

good luck w/ that... i was hoping to have an ortho look at my hand but kaiser said earliest app't was october (gotta love the HMO), so i'm off to the "family doctor" this afternoon. :rolleyes:
Well I took a good tumble earlier this year of the steps on Zorro. I went to plant a foot missed the trail on the downhill side, folded the knee on impact and rolled luckily into the bushes. I rehabed quickly and then went off to NC for a race where I did it all again. It has been touch but mostly go until last night while playing kickball (sigh) when it gave out on me again. Pretty damn swollen and sore and no mobility today. Time to get the specialist to do his magic.

I got a referral today from a family MD friend to Dr. Wayne Gersoff who is supposed to be one of the best in the field in Denver. Thankfully he is in my Anthem Blue Cross network. I will be out about $2,000 in deductible on my individual HSA plan but when weighing a new knee against a new bike the knee is sounding like a pretty good deal. Good luck with the hand.

jason
 
#8 ·
Kickball is wicked dangerous. You should know better.

Now you can sit at home staring at bikes instead of riding like me :) Still have a couple of weeks to go with my shoulder. This is killing me. Actually been hiking a bit. Soooooo boring.

Been to a couple of orthos in the Denver area but unfortunately none I would recommend. Sorry bro.
 
#9 ·
jasonb said:
I got a referral today from a family MD friend to Dr. Wayne Gersoff who is supposed to be one of the best in the field in Denver. Thankfully he is in my Anthem Blue Cross network. I will be out about $2,000 in deductible on my individual HSA plan but when weighing a new knee against a new bike the knee is sounding like a pretty good deal. Good luck with the hand.

jason
The fact that it keeps giving on you during lateral bracing moves makes it sure sound like an ACL. I sure hope it's not!

Dr. Gersoff did my knee a few years ago and I thought he did a phenomenal job. He's an artist from what I've heard. Total business and 100% confident in his ability to repair your knee. Good luck, Jason! Keep us informed...
 
#11 ·
Wertz out of boulder community and lousiville advista did my knee and gave me some good shoulder advice (quit playing rugby). He did my wife's ankle. Great work but has horrible bed side manners. I would trust him for the cutting but for the work up he's a little short on converstaion.

The guy out of CU sports medicine up on mapleton is great for the diagnosis. I just went though a series of MRI's on both knees (5 year old took me out at the stock show). Good advice, not quick to cut, interested in working through the issues. His name is Dr. Vital. I ahve not herd about his work but I really like him and what he had to say. My knee issues came down to "there is a lot going on but nothing i would cut on".

Since then i rode 12 hours of steamboat (really hard) and 24 hours of great glen.

-Chuck
 
#12 ·
If you don't mid going to Golden...go to Panorama....Doug Straehly or Mark Mills do excellent work with excellent follow up (which is more important). I've had the chance to work with those guys (panorama is a good group all around) and Mills is the one that other MDs go to...

just be sure to ice and elevate the knee!! good luck!
 
#13 ·
I've had the ACL & MCL completely replaced in both knees (1 skiing, the other mountainbiking). I had both redone when I lived out of state by an excellent ortho that specializes only in knee work and was back on the bike within 6 weeks in each case.

The best way I know to find an ortho in any city is to do some research with the physical therapists. I called around a couple dozen PTs, told them the surgery that I needed done and asked which doc they would use if they had to have the same thing. In almost every case, I received the same two recommendations. These are the folks that regularly deal with the "cleanup" from the local orthos and have a good idea which ones have the fastest recovery times and best results..

Definitely spring for getting an MRI first, even if it costs you a couple extra pesos. It can potentially save you an unneeded surgery if it's a class 1 or even sometimes a class 2 tear.. And you definitely want your ortho to be cocky. A doc with a God complex is actually comforting when you're going under the knife.

Good luck!
 
#17 ·
I've never had to have a knee looked at (knock on wood) but I've had a few ortho's in the past that I would recommend for sure.

Panorama in Golden, I had a foot/ankle surgery there and they were top-notch.
Colorado Ortho in Englewood, see either Stull or Hewitt great guys and good docs.
Steadman Hawkins in DTC - these guys are big-time and do great work.
My spine guy retired but you're looking for a knee anyways...

But more than anything, take heed as to whatever recco doc gravity PM'ed you... he steered me right to have my collarbone fixed by the guys at Colorado Ortho and I was stoked.





Why is my list of recommendations for orthopods longer than my list of barbers? :)
 
#19 ·
ibmkidIII said:
Well? What's the word? MRI for further diagnostics?
Yup but it is not looking good. Since I work independently I have major medical not group coverage so I have a high deductible but good coverage (100%) after the deductible. I have the choice of paying cash for the MRI for about $600 or getting it under my insurance, which I will also pay out of pocket but it would count against my deductible, for $1500. If surgery is in the future then it makes sense to begin paying on the deductible so I asked my dr. what he would recommend...he said start on the deductible without hesitation. He evidently thinks the knee is fu@ked. That is not news to me b/c I have been battling it all summer -- I just want to hear that they can make it all better. The good news is I am not going to do more damage so the dr. cleared me to ride!

j
 
#20 ·
jasonb said:
The good news is I am not going to do more damage so the dr. cleared me to ride!
j
Whoa cowboy.. speaking from experience, you can still continue to tear up your meniscus if you keep popping the joint out of place.. And that's something they typically can't fix, anything that's torn they just cut out when they're in there fixing the ACL. Won't affect you much in the short-term, but can lead to wobbly knee and easy arthritis as you get to be a grumpy old man.
 
#21 ·
jasonb said:
Yup but it is not looking good. Since I work independently I have major medical not group coverage so I have a high deductible but good coverage (100%) after the deductible. I have the choice of paying cash for the MRI for about $600 or getting it under my insurance, which I will also pay out of pocket but it would count against my deductible, for $1500. If surgery is in the future then it makes sense to begin paying on the deductible so I asked my dr. what he would recommend...he said start on the deductible without hesitation. He evidently thinks the knee is fu@ked. That is not news to me b/c I have been battling it all summer -- I just want to hear that they can make it all better. The good news is I am not going to do more damage so the dr. cleared me to ride!

j
J -

Check this out: I also have an individual health plan that has a high deductible ($5000) but is REALLY good after that (pays 100%). I actually CHOSE the $5K ded to keep my premiums really low, but I also got some additional coverage to take up the slack. All in all, I'm paying less than I would for "good" insurance and have roughly the same benefits. Take a look at this link:

http://www.adventureadvocates.com/index.html

if you're a member of USA Cycling or IMBA or any of a number of other partner organizations, you can become a member of Adventure Advocates and get some pretty nice perks, one of which is an accident insurance policy that pays out up to $25K per incident with only a $100 ded. And an "accident" can be biking, kayaking, auto, whatever. Of course, if you get the sniffles and go see the doc (who does THAT?) then you're still subject to your regular carrier's ded but this way you're nearly fully covered if you have some kind of major trauma like... say... blow out your ACL. This coverage also works as supplemental insurance to an existing plan, so it'll help cover your ded and all of that.

Something to think about...
 
#22 ·
Full Trucker said:
J -

Check this out: I also have an individual health plan that has a high deductible ($5000) but is REALLY good after that (pays 100%). I actually CHOSE the $5K ded to keep my premiums really low, but I also got some additional coverage to take up the slack. All in all, I'm paying less than I would for "good" insurance and have roughly the same benefits. Take a look at this link:

http://www.adventureadvocates.com/index.html
Yup I *had* a supplemental policy but decided that I didn't trust the company I was with so I let it lapse. Oh well...I will give this one a look, thanks. MRI scheduled for tomorrow at 4:30. I am going to pay cash to get the cash rate (50% discount!) and then am going to submit the receipt myself to Anthem so it goes against my deductible.

jason
 
#26 ·
Dr. Gersoff hs been doing top level sports ortho for years here. He used to be the team surgeon for a number of professional and college teams in the area (not sure if that's still his gig, though). He's opperated on my brother twice, while he was playing football at CU, and on a number of my patients - all with great results. You are definitely in good hands. Best of luck! Rehab that knee right the first time. It'll get you back on the trail, as cycling is perfect for a post-op knee.
 
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